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Hi, I’m Erin, an spiritual adventurer, tech marketer, and wife and mom of 2. I’m here to share the insights I learn, the joy I find, and hope to help others find a way to seek more magic in every day.
Hello, and welcome to seek the magic. Today, I wanna talk about serendipity because I think it can be a beautiful, magical part of our lives if we let it, and it it has certainly helped me and, you know, guided me in in different parts of my life. So first of all, what is serendipity? Well, a definition according to one dictionary is that it's finding something valuable or delightful when you're not looking for it. So discovering something by chance, making a connection, and it can occur in all aspects of life.
Erin McMahon:And so, you know, one example of serendipity that occurred a few years ago for me was when we were looking at different houses in the North Carolina area, and we weren't quite sure what we were going to do. And it's just, you know, the housing market is intense and there are lots of different houses and you're overwhelmed with information. And I I noticed one house with the number 203. And 203 is also the area code of Connecticut where I grew up, and it's still the beginning of my phone number. And so since 203 popped out, I said, oh, we should go visit that house because it has the area code.
Erin McMahon:So 2 unrelated things, some, you know, random number that may not have made a connection for a lot of people, but I said, oh, it's it's my area code. We're going to look at the house. So we ended up looking at the house. It was a great house. And, you know, I said, okay.
Erin McMahon:Well, maybe maybe we can make an offer. And if this makes sense, it makes sense. And if it doesn't, it doesn't sort of, you know, detach from it. But it was not in our immediate search area. It wasn't something that we, you know, probably would have had on our, you know, major list of criteria, but it ended up being a wonderful house to look at, and we liked it so much.
Erin McMahon:And it ended up that we are in that house right now. So the reason why I bring this up is because serendipity can take you out of your analytical mind because it's connecting to things that aren't necessarily related. It takes you out of your logical mind. And in some instances, people, especially in the the logical western world will want to ignore those signals, but sometimes they can lead you to wonderful places. Serendipity, I would say I first came across that term in books, you know, when I was in middle school and high school, and then of course, famously and maybe not so famously to everyone.
Erin McMahon:But in 2001, there was a movie called Serendipity with John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale, which took place in New York City and various other locations. And it was about how they met each other, and then they, you know, were apart. And they said, oh, if we're meant to be together, then we will, you know, connect again. And of course, I was a junior in high school and this came out and I was like, oh, this is amazing. I absolutely love it.
Erin McMahon:And so, you know, from there, serendipity kind of, you know, stuck in my head. And then later I lived in New York and there is a restaurant in New York called Serendipity, which is quite famous and a destination for tourists to go to. So, you know, obviously, I I had to go there and have a meal. And, you know, was slightly underwhelmed, but, you know, still making that connection as well. So when I think about serendipity, I associate it with the the 2001 rom com and also that place in New York.
Erin McMahon:But then at the same time, I really have been intentional about following those leads or those connections when they come up in my mind, such as the when looking for a house. Oh, you know, this house is maybe slightly outside of the the location that we're looking, but it's 203. So let's go check it out and follow that lead. And then, you know, eventually, the connection comes into place that this is the house we're living in. Some other things have happened related to that that have been influential.
Erin McMahon:When I was in my first job in California, I would run along the road in the suburbs. I worked at Google, and so I'd run every day around the neighborhood. And it happened that one day, one of my friends in college had moved back to California where she was from, and she saw me running on the bridge, and she pinged me. I think at the time, you know, she either used AOL Instant Messenger or Facebook and said, you know, oh, I'm in California. You're in California too.
Erin McMahon:I had no idea. And we connected and we are ended up being roommates and now we're she's one of my best friends and my daughter is named Catherine, partially an inspiration to her because she's had such an influence on my life. So, had it not been for that one moment of coincidence and her, you know, seeing me and then following that instinct and saying, hey, I saw you. Let's, you know, connect. It's just like, you know, that connection on that one day had, you know, an influence on the path we went through.
Erin McMahon:Another example of that is when I was listening to a lecture and, you know, it reminded me to call my friend that I hadn't called in a while and that ended up, you know, leading to a conversation that sparked another idea in different path that I've gone on. So I've very much appreciated when moments of delight that has sparked ideas have come up, and I've benefited from when I followed them. Of course, this doesn't always happen. Sometimes, you know, you will go down, you will follow something, and it won't necessarily lead in the right direction. But, you know, it's worth pursuing and using that balance of your logical mind and then, you know, also something that may have been presented to you that you may not have considered.
Erin McMahon:So serendipity in brain side of things is connected to our default mode network, which is responsible for mind wandering and daydreaming and creative thinking. So it's active when we're not exactly focused on something, but then it our minds wander and it can catch our attention. So, you know, in that case, you know, the number of the area code of our house, you know, I was looking at different houses and things like that, and the 203 sparked something slightly unrelated, but made a connection and that move forward and impacted where we ultimately decided to live. And, you know, with my friend, you know, we were both commuting while I was running. She was commuting to work and made the connection and followed up, and that made impact for us and how we connected and spend our time together and are best friends because of it.
Erin McMahon:So just a in in this book I was reading, a study published by the Journal of Science found that people who are more prone to mind wandering are likely to make creative breakthroughs and experience serendipity. So this connects to my pursuit of meditation and being open to what things are available to us and to think outside the box a bit. So I think serendipity can be scary sometimes because it connects us to a fear of the unknown, or it takes us out of our very procedural, logical day to day, you know, I have to get through this list of things to do, but at the same time, I think it can lead to greater magic and more excitement and delight in life. So I encourage you to follow those connections and those moments that spark some idea or something different or something new. And I would say sometimes situations are unknown and, you know, there are a lot of variables into going into new situations, but that's also how we grow.
Erin McMahon:And I think using moments of connection, surprise and delight, things like that, they can help lead us into a right direction and make us feel a little safer, maybe a little more guided as we move forward. So that's certainly something I look at, especially when, because I certainly get anxious when I'm trying something new. However, I'm also very eager to expand, learn, grow, test myself, things like that. So when I, you know, see moments or see signals of things that show me there is a connection, maybe it's not, like, the logical or statistical connection to, you know, persuade me to do something, but maybe it's a maybe it's you could call it a sign and something like that that can help guide you in the right direction. And I think this helps us become more adaptable.
Erin McMahon:It helps us explore. It helps us reach our edges, and helps us find the unexpected in life. So I would encourage you, this audience, to pay attention to serendipity and to also take moments to be open, to let your mind wander, to experience what is outside of the focus point and see what comes of it and follow it because that can lead to so many beautiful things. So that's all I have for today, and I hope you seek the magic in your day to day. Thank you.